Adjustable horse.



G. G. STAINES.

ADJUSTABLE HORSE.

APPLICATION FILED'OCT. 20. 1911.

2 b n J m e t H AU t a mi en's: ennrrnnn s'rarnns, or M n on, new roan,assrenon 'ro manner. o. Veterans,

' or roiaon ro, cannon.

nnwsrnern nonsn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

npplieationflled October $0, 1917. Serial No. 197,550.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Gr. Smart es, a citizenof the UnitedStates, and a resident of Albion, in the county of Orleansand State of New York, have invented a new and useful Adjustable Horse,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to adjustable trestles or horses designed to beused by masons, carpenters, paperhangers, painters, plasterers and suchlike artisans to support a temporary staging or floor upon which tostand and worlnor for like support ng purposes; and particularly to thatclass of adjustable trestles in which the supporting legs thereof areindependently ad ustable, so that the trestle may be adjusted lnto alevel position notwithstanding that the surface upon which it stands maybe irregular in contour.

The objects of my invention are to provide an improved adjustabletrestle or horse which may, be easily and cheaply manufactured, whichmay be readily adjusted to \nriousheightsand one 111 wh ch the legswhereby the ad ustmentis provided for may be removed from the remainingportion of the device-t0 thereby provide a compact andeasilytransportable structure.

A further object of my invention isto providean adjustable trestle inwhich a single head portion maybe used with legs of (l1fferent lengthsto thereby extend the range of usefulness of the device; and to providean adjustable trestle which will be strong and rigid when in use and onein which the clamping devices. for securing the adjustable legs and headportion together are of suchforrn and construction that the parts willbe the more firmly clamped together the greater the load borne by thetrestle.v

Vlliththe above and other 'objectspf 1nvention in view,,rny inventioncons sts in the improved adjustable trestle illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, described in the following specification, andparticularly claimed, and in such var ations and modifications thereofas will be-obviousto those skilled in the art to which my inventionrelates.

The drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specificationillustrates the preferredemhodin ent oilirmy invent on; although it willbeapp-reciated that the same may be embodied in other forums, so longasit is within the scope of the concluding claims. In the said drawingwherein the same reference numerals are employed to designate like partsin several views,

Figure 1 is a view illustrating my improved adjustable trestle inperspective, a and from are short legs 5 whichdiverge in the mannerillustrated, in order that the adjustable legs cotiperating therewithmay en-;

gage the surface upon which the trestle rests at points spaced apartfrom one another and that the devicemay be firmly supported. The lowerends of the fixed legs 5 are connected with one another by crosspiocesfi; andsuitablclbraces 7 extending between said cross pieces andthe top bar-5t are ordinarily provided in order to pro: vide a rigid andwell braced structure. The top bar 4:, cross pieces 6, and braces 7 arepermanently connected with one another, thus forming a single unitarystructure which I refer to asthe head portion of my adjustable horse ortrestle. j I

The reference numeral 8 designates the adjustable legs of my improvedtrestle, the upper ends of which legs are in contact with and extendalong the fixed legs 5, as. shown, and mo adjustable relative thereto,the said legs being firmly vcl'arnpe din placerela tive to the legs 5when the device is set up for use by 113621115 of the clamping mochanism to be next described; although itwill be appreciated that theadjustable legs are are in no way pernianently secnred to the fixed legsand maybe easily removed from the trestle. a

llhe clamping means for securingthe adjustable legs 8 and the fixed orbuilt in legs 5 together when the trestle is inn-se is best shown inFig. 2 of the drawing. Such clamping means comprises two spaced swing;-ing clamping members 9 for each of the1adjustablelegs 8; saidclampingmel l ers bee tel l their a it Mill) its 1 members are of such lengththat they noring of U-shape form, and the inner ends thereof beingpivotally connected with the bolts as points of support. These clampingmally occupy inclined positions, as shown,

when the adjustable legs are clamped in position against the fixed orbuilt in legs 5 and the two clamping members which co- V operate'witheach ofthe adjustable legs 8 are connected with-one another throughcon-.

necting bars 11, so that both the clamping membersassociated with eachad ustable leg maybe swung about their pivotal connections 10 by movingsaid connecting bars longitudinally of -'thelegs. To this end the lowerends of the connecting bars are preferably extended, and provided withhooks 12,- with which hooksfiexible members 13 are connected. The'barsmay be pulled downward to release the adjustable legs either by takinghold-of the free ends of the bars or by pulling upon the flexiblemembers 13 1f the headportion' of the trestle is adjusted to such aheight that the lower ends of the bars cannot be'readily reached. P

*The connecting bars 11 are shown as pivotallyconnected with theswinging clamping 'members 9 'through-pivotsl t, from which it followsthat theouter' or free ends 15- of the clamping members may be"simultaneously swung away from the outeredges of the adjustable legs 8'to thereby release the said legs; and 'a sliding or loose connection ispreferably" provided between the upper ends ofthe bars'and the pivotsthrough which said-upper ends are connected with the upper swingingclamping members, as by providing slots 16 in said upper ends throughwhich the pivot or fastening'members lt 7 which-connect the upper endsof the bars with-the upperclamp'ing members extend and within whichslots said pivots may have a limited movement.

'The' reference numerals 17 designate springs (one associated with eachof the clamping mechanisms above described), one end of each of which isconnected with the bar 11 of the clamping mechanism with which itlisassociated and the other end of which is connected with a fixedprojection, preferably with the pivot whereby the upper clamping member9- is connectedwith the leg'5. The purpose of these springs is to drawthe connecting bars 11 upwardly, and

thus move and hold the outer ends l5 of the clamping members inengagement with the outer face of the adjustable legs 8 and the purposeof the loose connections provided by the slots 16 .is to permit the twoclamping members for each adjustable leg to adjust themselves toslightvariations in width of j the: legs (measured outward from the fixed.

legs 5 upon whichthey'rest') at the points connecting bar extendingbetween and operatively connected with them, and so that both theclamping members associated with each adjustable leg will grip the samewith substantially equal force and have the same or substantially thesame holding action in clamping the'adjustable and the fixed legstogether when the trestle is in use,

lPhe upper ones of the swinging clamping members 9 are made somewhatwider than the adjustable legs which extends through them in order topermit the upper ends of oppositely located adjustable legs to he movedsidewise relative to one another so that said upper ends may bemade topass by one another and extend above the top bar 4, as illustrated; thuspermitting a trestle equipped with a given set of adjustable legs to beadjusted between a lower position in which the fixed legs 5 rest uponthe ground or other surface and an upper position in rests may beirregular in contour; and that i sets of adjustable legs of differentlengths may be used with a given head portion in or der to increase therange of adjustability ol the trestle as a whole. Finally, when thetrestle is loaded the outer ends 15 of the inclined clamping members 9will be drawn into firm engagement with the outer or free edges of theadjustable legs (due to the tendency of the load to move the headportion downward), from which it follows that the holding action of theclamps will be the greater the greater the load borne by the trestle. Itwill also be appreciated that the adjustable legs may be readily removedfrom the head portion of the trestle and the trestle as a whole thusrendered compact and easily transportable, and that the head portionalone may be'used as a trestle or horse of lesser height than thetrestle considered as a whole, and considered asequipped with theadjustable legs. c

Having thus described and explained my invention, I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent 1. An adjustable trestle or horse comprising atop bar; a plurality of fixed legs carried by and rigidly connected withsaid top bar; a plurality of adjustable legs in contact with andextending one. along each of said fixed legs; and a plurality ofclamping mechanisms for securing said adjustable legs one to each ofsaid fixed legs each of said clamping mechanisms comprising two spacedpivotally supported clamping members the free ends of which are adaptedto engage the outer or free edge of the adjustable leg with which theyare associated; and a connecting bar operatively connected with each ofsaid clamping members and whereby said members may be operated torelease said adjustable leg.

2. An adjustable trestle or horse comprising a top bar; a plurality offixed legs carried by and rigidly connected with said top bar; aplurality of adjustable legs in contact with and extending one alongeach of said fixed legs; and a plurality of clamping mechanisms forsecuring said adjustable legs one to each of said fixed legs-each ofsaid clamping mechanisms comprising two spaced pivotally supportedU-shaped clamping members extending about an adjustable leg and the freeends of which are adapted to engage the outer or free edge thereof; aconnecting bar pivotally connected with each of said clamping members;and a spring operatively connected with said bar and adapted to forcethe free outer ends of said clamping members into engagement with thefree outer edge of said adjustable leg.

8. An adjustable trestle or horse comprising a top bar; a plurality offixed legs carried by and rigidly connected with said top bar; aplurality of adjustable legs in contact with and extending one alongeach of said fixed legs; and a plurality of clamping mechanisms forsecuring said \adljustablej, legs one to each of said fixed legs-each ofsaid clamping mechanisms comprising two spaced pivotally supportedclamping members the free ends of which are adapted to engage the outeror free edge of the adjustable leg with which they are associated; and aconnecting bar operatively connected with each of said clamping membersand whereby said members may be operated to release said adjustable leg;the connection between said connect-ing bar and one of said clampingmembers being loose so that the two clamping members in; question mayhave a limited movement independent of one another.

a. An adjustable trestle or horse comprising a top bar; a plurality offixed legs carried by and rigidly connected with said top bar; aplurality of adjustable legs in contact with and extending one alongeach of said fixed legs; and a plurality of clamping mechanism forsecuring said adjustable legs one to each of said fixed legs-each ofsaid clamping mechanisms comprising jtwoj spaced pivotally supportedlJ-shaped clamping members extending about an adjustab e leg and thefree ends of which are adapted to engage the outer or free edge thereof;a connecting bar pivotally connected with each of said clamping members;and a spring operatively connected with said bar and adapted to forcethe free outer ends of said clamping members into engagement with thefree outer edge of said adjustable leg; the connection between saidconnecting bar and the upper one of said clamping members including aslot in which the pivot through which said elements are connected withone another may have a limited amount of movement.

5. An adjustable trestle or horse comprising a top bar; a plurality ofdiverging fixed legs carried by and rigidly connected with said top bar;a plurality of adjustable legs in contact with and extending one alongeach of said fixed legs; and a plurality of clamping mechanisms forsecuring said adj ustable legs one to each of said fixed legseach ofsaid clamping mechanisms comprising two spaced pivotally supportedU-shaped clamping members extending about an ad justable leg and thefree ends of which are adapted to engage the outer or free edge thereof;a connectin bar pivotally connected with each of said clamping members;and a spring operatively connected with said bar and adapted to forcethe free outer ends of said clamping members into engagement with thefree outer edge of said adjustable leg; the upper one of said clampingmembers being wider than the adjustable leg with which it cooperates, sothat the upper end of said leg may be moved sidewise and permitted topass by the upper end of another adjustable leg.

GUY GARFIELD STAINES.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, 10. G.

til

